PlayStation 3

What a bizarre turn of events. As somebody who had installed Linux on their PS3, merely to try it out, I can attest to how terrible the experience was. Besides it not being super intuitive to accomplish, once installed, Linux was slow and limited in what you could do. Who would want to reboot the PS3 and launch the Linux five minutes later to do some light web browsing or chatting? That’s about as far as my installs went before I completely forgot about it. I guess others didn’t?

Just a quick follow up on a post from yesterday. Bungie has now officially released the Destiny Companion App 4.1.0 update which brings with it a host of new ways to connect with new players and form fire teams for raids and Heroic Strikes. The new features are now live for iOS (iPhone/iPad) and will presumably eventually come to Android. For those looking to run The Taken King raid but don’t have a core squad to play with, this update goes a long way towards making that easier on you. Well done Bungie.

Big news for all Destiny players out there. A long time lacking feature of the game, which the developers argue is on purpose, will soon be making its way to the game via the companion app for iOS and Android. Louis Contald writes for DualShockers:

With nearly no in-game option for matchmaking certain events (raids, heroic story missions, and the like), many ambitious entrepreneurs turned to creating their own sites — i.e., DestinyLFG’s .com and .net variations. However, according to Bungie’s weekly update, the official iOS/Android companion app will soon get a new update on the #Recruitment forum.

Just a quick heads up. The Destiny update 2.2.0.2 that I talked about yesterday which would prepare the game for changes to its melee system among other things is now live. The small update which is required before jumping in brings with it:

Character

The following changes to the melee ability will be manually toggled on Tuesday, May 10th at 10AM Pacific. For a review of the changes read the last “This Week at Bungie.”

Fixed a bug that would start a melee target search from an incorrect position, frequently coming up short and causing the melee attack to whiff

Adjust melee strike validation logic and player position networking during melee attacks to improve reliability across the network

Activities

Fixed an issue in which chests in the original Prison of Elders challenge modes (Level 32, 34, 35) did not properly give loot

Fixed an issue in which the Weekly Nightfall did not drop Ghosts above the player’s Light correctly

Come May 3rd, Bungie will be releasing Destiny update 2.2.0.2 which will eventually change how the melee system works. While the update will go live tomorrow, the actual changes won’t go into effect until May 10th. Bungie hopes that in the week that the code is introduced, they can monitor how it affects things before fully implementing changes to the melee system. According to the team at Bungie:

Changing the Sandbox always runs the risk of wreaking havoc on the fabric of virtual reality. We’re going to roll this out nice and slow.

New Melee code will be manually activated Tuesday, May 10th at 10AM Pacific

We’ll monitor performance and gather feedback on the Sandbox

I have to say, despite being ‘minor’ compared to DLC like The Taken King, the April update has done wonders to making Destiny even more fun to play. As a whole, the game feels much more balanced out with less of a grind. If you’ve put the game aside lately, right now is a pretty good time to jump back in. After the jump, Bungie Sandbox Engineer Jon Cable talks specifics about the new update.

Despite nearing its 10th anniversary, Sony is still bringing new functionality to PS3. Specifically, a Twitch app has just been launched on the console.

Twitch lets you instantly watch and follow broadcasts of any game you love. Features include:

+ Live and recorded video of top games, players & esports events+ Ability to follow channels and games you want to keep tabs on+ Special section to highlight PlayStation broadcasters

Unlike on PS4, the Twitch app on PS3 is only for viewing content and doesn’t allow you to live stream from the console. Still, for those who enjoy watching live streams, this is a great addition to PS3. After the jump, a few more pictures for you.

Time to get hyped, Guardians. The long-talked-about Destiny April update 2.2.0 is now live and available for your device of choice. The free update, which adds a plethora of content, is decently large in size, coming in at:

PS4 – 1.71GB

PS3 – 1.04GB

Xbox One – 1.74GB

Xbox 360 – 793MB

Oryx may have been defeated but many Taken remain and the denizens of the Reef are seeking revenge for their loss. Travel to Vestian Outpost in the Reef to speak with Variks about rumors of a new Taken threat. Test yourself against new challenges within the Prison of Elders.

After the jump, a detailed look at what’s changed. For those with a few minutes, a video preview also awaits you which shows you everything that’s new. It’s also worth noting that later this year, likely in the fall, a major paid DLC will be launched with Destiny 2 expected to arrive sometime in 2017.

PS4 is still the platform with the highest sales for the publisher (41% of sales in the latest quarter and 37% in the the first nine months of the current fiscal year), followed by Xbox One

Q3 2015 Ubisoft sales by console:

PS4 – 41%

Xbox One – 27%

PC – 12%

Wii – 6%

Other – 5%

Xbox 360 – 4%

Wii U – 3%

PS3 – 2%

The fact that PS4 is the leading platform for Ubisoft isn’t all that surprising to me. What is, however, is how poorly PS3 is doing for them. Sure, its days are long over, but seeing how PS3 eventually overtook Xbox 360 in sales, it’s odd to see it at the bottom of the pack. Then again, I’m not entirely sure if Ubisoft released the same games across all consoles which could explain why PS3 sales are at the bottom of the pack.

Bungie is bringing some changes on how it reports Destiny and general company updates.

“Whoa, wait!” you say. “Is this the Bungie Weekly Update?”

It was, for many years. Today, we’re giving it a new name so it would no longer be confused with Patch Notes. Bungie has long enjoyed taking a moment out of each week to share something from our studio with the players of our games. We may have outgrown the name in the complex era of Destiny, but we have not outgrown the weekly ritual of friendship.

But beyond a title change, Bungie is talking Destiny Update 2.1.1 which could change how you play Crucible for the better, I think. Details after the jump.

PS3 update 4.78 and PS Vita update 3.57 are now live and ready for your downloading pleasure. Neither update is required to continue gaming though some select titles might be affected by it. Seeing how both updates are fairly small (PS3 – 206MB & PS Vita 137MB), I’d recommend just getting them out of the way to ensure you don’t have any problems going forward.

However unlike other updates that are either vague like ‘bug fixes and system improvements’ or specific where they bring on a host of new features, both updates here are designed to remove functionality from the PS3 and PS Vita. More after the jump.

If you’re not playing Destiny, you’re truly missing out one of the best experiences on PS4 and lucky for you, Bungie now has one hell of a deal for you. Destiny: The Taken King, the newest expansion and almost thought of as Destiny 2 by many now includes the previous two DLC for $39.99. That means you get

The Taken King

Expansion I: The Dark Below

Expansion II: House of Wolves

Level 25 Character Boost

You can read more about level boosters here. If you’re not playing Destiny, you seriously owe it to yourself to give the game a shot and if you are, you need The Taken King to see what you’re missing.

Readers of the site know that I’m a huge Destiny fan. In fact, it’s pretty much what I’ve played all year long, due to its ability of allowing me to play for hours on end or just jump in for 15 to 20 minutes and still accomplish something. Having started on December 8th and lasting till December 29th, Bungie is introducing what we’ve all wanted from the beginning: Sparrow racing.

Dubbed the Sparrow Racing League, the free event is available for owners of The Taken King DLC. According to Bungie, anybody

who participate[s] will be able to earn rewards unique to the mode. This includes racing suits for their Guardian and new sparrows.

PlayStation platforms will have also have access to a timed-exclusive Sparrow Racing quest, which rewards a unique Sparrow.

After the jump, a trailer for the fun new mode which is part TRON, part WipEout, and both part awesome.

Friends, family, and readers of this site know that I love Destiny. Seeing how this isn’t a site that’s ran by tons of writers, I usually limit my coverage of games to titles I myself find compelling. For that reason, you’re more likely to see me talk about Destiny, Uncharted, and DriveClub than Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed. I say write about what you know. (Just to give you an idea as how horrible my back catalogue is. I still haven’t launched Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag though I purchased on day one.)

One thing that I love about Destiny is how accessible the game is. If I have 15 minutes to play, it takes all but 2-minutes to boot up my PS4 and be in orbit. Once there, I can do a quick strike or a few rounds of crucible. If I have a little bit more time, to the tower I go for bounties or perhaps I try to put together a nightfall strike or even raid.

As you can imagine, The Taken King was pre-ordered a long time ago and downloaded on day one when it launched but none of the experiences I write about are specific to that DLC. After the jump, a fun two-minute video that highlights a random Destiny Crucible (PVP) encounter someone recorded that shows why this game is so much fun. Seriously try to watch the video and not smile.

As promised, Destiny 2.0 is now live for all Guardians on PlayStation. That means those playing Destiny on PS3 or PS4 will be booted from their gameplay in order for the mandatory update to be downloaded and installed. Preparing the game for the massive The Taken King DLC,Destiny 2.0 will bring with it it a lot of changes, including the removal of two features that you should be aware of. It’s worth noting that Destiny 2.0 takes up a ton of space on PS4 and even more on PS3. Those details after the jump.